More free lessons for B40

TO help students catch up with their lessons through self-directed learning, an additional 1,000 lessons will be added to the free “Learn From Home” Frog School Lessons online platform this year.

Phase two of the initiative was recently launched with CIMB Foundation joining Teach For Malaysia (TFM) and YTL Foundation to offer online learning lessons which focus on developing leaders in the classroom and learning content, as well as running community workshops to support students and parents of the B40 community as we transition into the 2022-2023 academic year.

TFM, with the support of CIMB Foundation, has contributed to the development of the “Learn From Home” lessons that are created on Frogasia’s learning platform and made available on YTL Foundation’s website and the Frogplay Mobile app.

Since the online initiative was introduced in March 2020, the lessons have been accessed over one million times.

These lessons cover the entire English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mathematics and Science curriculum from Year One to Form Five.

TFM chief executive officer Chan Soon Seng said the last two years of remote learning have been challenging.

“Students from communities that do not have equal access to learning resources have continued to fall behind. Moving forward, we need to continue to provide these students with access to high-quality learning materials.

“We also need to invest in local community leadership development in order for communities themselves to be able to support students’ education recovery journey sustainably,” he said in a press release dated Feb 15.

TFM and CIMB Foundation have focused on building strong leadership in the classrooms through TFM’S Fellowship and the capacity of community leaders through workshops with students and parents at Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) communities.

The goal is to reach at least six PPR communities, 60 teachers and 9,600 students by 2023.

CIMB Foundation CEO Rafe Haneef Mohamed Haneef said the adoption of online learning remains a necessity as the pandemic continues to cause disruptions to the education system across Malaysia.

As such, it is important that online resources are made available to support the continuity of education for students by accommodating various delivery modes in line with their respective household context and environment, he added.

“We hope to build resilient learning systems where students who need extra support can access high-quality learning resources that are aligned to the curriculum at any time,” he said, adding that the aim is to raise students’ motivation and promote interactive learning outside the classroom.

“We also encourage active parent participation as they play an important role in their children’s learning and development. We will continue to extend our support to ensure that no child’s educational success is limited by their socio-economic backgrounds,” he said.

YTL Foundation has also been working with volunteer tutors to help students in other PPR communities make up for the learning loss experienced from the pandemic using the lessons on the platform.

Its programme director Datuk Kathleen Chew noted that the past two years have been particularly difficult for students living in these communities to cope with home-based learning.

“Under our ‘Learn from Home’ initiative, we provided data and a smartphone to over 100,000 students in B40 families, but this still left many without a device and resources for learning.

“Through partnerships with like-minded organisations like CIMB Foundation and TFM, we hope that many more communities will be empowered to help their students make up for the learning loss not only in the core subjects of Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics and Science, but also in all other subjects in the curriculum through the additional 1,000 lessons we will be releasing this year.”

These lessons, together with over 13,000 quiz questions, can be accessed on the YTL Foundation website and the Frogplay Mobile app for free.

All that is required is an Internet connection and a smartphone or device.

CIMB Foundation and YTL Foundation are also supporting TFM’S 10th cohort of fellows, who will be placed in primary schools for the first time.

These fellows will help pupils catch up on their learning which has been severely impacted by the pandemic.

Visit www.ytlfoundation.org/ learn to access the lessons or visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download Frogplay Mobile.